Cancellation Of NEET “Extreme Last Resort”: Supreme Court To Decide On Re-Test

Following the alleged irregularities in the NEET UG 2024 examinations, the Supreme Court heard several petitions on Monday filed by students and coaching institutes against the medical entrance exam results. A total of 38 petitions have been scheduled to be heard by the bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices Manoj Misra and JB Pardiwala.

The court stated that it was examining the extent of the paper leak. The three-judge bench directed the CBI to file a status report on the investigation into the FIRs about the paper leak.

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“The fact that sanctity of the exam has been compromised is beyond doubt. The paper leak is an admitted fact,” said the CJI. The bench added that the court was “determining the extent of leak,” while examining the number of beneficiaries of the paper leak.

The CJI stated that if candidates who are guilty of wrongdoing cannot be identified, then a retest has to be ordered. Considering that nearly 24 lakh students would be affected by a retest, the court said that it would be the “last option.”

A retest could only be ordered if there was sufficient time between the question leak and the conduct of the exam. “What is the point of time the leak took place…and what are the action taken to identify wrongdoers/beneficiaries?” the bench asked.

The bench listed out three parameters based on which it will be decided whether a retest should be conducted or not. The three parameters include whether the alleged leak took place at a systematic level, whether its nature would affect the integrity of the entire exam process, and whether it was possible to distinguish the paper leak beneficiaries from the untainted students.

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“If the modality of paper leak is though electronic means or social media, it is a possibility that leak is wide,” the court said. The top court had been told that the question papers were available on social media, such as Telegram, a day before the exam was scheduled to begin.

The petitioners sought the cancellation of the exam on the grounds of paper leak, impersonation, OMR sheet manipulation, and cheating.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 11.